Pieces
by Belliadonna
Summary: Plagued by the cruel words of the Ylissean council, Robin flees from her heart, in turn shattering the one she promised to hold forever. She never said she was capable of holding such a big heart anyway.
1. Goodbye

_Alright, so I had to get this out of my system. Don't worry, Heaven and Checkmate may update within the NEXT WEEK, maybe. Gods know I am terrible with estimations. For now, have this, lovely people. This will be a three-to-four shot story. I was aiming for one, but editing twenty pages per go ain't so good for my attention span. So I chopped it up. _

_Thank you all for reading. It makes me happy to know that people read my stories._

_P.S. While writing the first scene, all my brain could think of was Maribelle critical-ing everyone in the room, yelling 'I WILL RUIN YOU' as she decapitates them all with a tree branch. _

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><p><strong><em>I could say that that I'll be the one you'll need,<em>**

**_but that would be a lie._**

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><p>Maribelle has just had about enough. For once in her life, she felt uncomfortable in her pink silk ensemble and bear leather riding boots, sweltering in the heat of tension within the Ylissean throne room. She was invited as a member of the new ruler's council, as an official representative of the county of Themis, and by gods, she was already irritated beyond belief. The Ylissean court has called forth a meeting to discuss the floating rumour about a certain tactician. It would seem that they have caught wind of their king's and the Plegian woman's engagement, and the council seemed appalled by the scandal. Chrom, like his sister before him, could not refuse the congregation of its request, no matter how foul smelling.<p>

Maribelle sincerely wished he had.

"Milord, with all due respect, what manner of reasoning would this announcement beheld? She is of Plegian roots, as is evident in her robes, and the strange marking on her hand, as seen by one of our own scouts has been researched by our scholars and they confidently state that it is a mark related to Grima. Your Majesty, she is a Grimleal! She cannot be allowed around the Ylissean people, much less its monarchy!" The Duke of Richmind, a balding, really frail old man with a scowl so severe, Maribelle would bet her parasol that he could make babies cry simply by existing—declared, the booming grind of his voice echoing across the large threshold. The blonde noble gnashed her teeth to stifle the scathing rebuke she had. Losing control of oneself would simply be undignified.

"You had no qualms about her when she came to Ylisse's aid and you were too busy hiding in your summer homes in the South during the war!" Maribelle could also see that Chrom has reached boiling point. The prince was gripping the decorated arm rest of the antique throne tightly, his knuckles white with control, his face burning with anger, eyebrows knitted firmly on his forehead, mirroring those of Frederick, who stood beside him, a hand on the prince's arm that seem to double as both a comforting gesture and a restraining one.

"Your highness," the lady of House Remlia stood to state her case. "We were just finished with a war that the Plegians instigated. The opinions of the people in regards to our western neighbours were only tainted darker with the news of the Exalt's death on their soils. The people will not be so kind as to accept her." She paused, unable to maintain eye contact with the prince whose eyes were so angry and hostile at the moment, that she even felt compelled to add, "…And even if her intentions were truly pure, and that this consortium is truly borne after deep affections from both parties, she could face countless assassins from the fanatical commoners and nobles who may harbor ill will towards her roots. The exalted line will not be safe, if it were to continue with her."

"Bah, the naiveté of females! Naga knows why the weaker gender even serves in this political court." A scowl. "Think of your lineage, your grace! It would not do well to let a Plegian whore into the bloodline! She will dirty the sacred blood that Naga herself has gifted the Exalted family with her filthy Plegian blood—and a commoner, no less? Has she even lineage? Bah! She blames it on amnesia, but I bet you my estate she is but a common whore trying to scrounge up some gold!"

It took all of Maribelle's serene grace to not clobber the asshole with her parasol. Or maybe skewer them with one of the lances that hung above the thrones. Thanks to Frederick, she HAS been getting better with damned pointy weapons that made her fingers erupt in blisters. She massaged her temples.

"She could very well be planning to massacre you! Earn your trust then while you lay sleeping, BAM!" The council gasped in surprise. "She kills you and blame it on a rouge assassin and removes you of your crown!" Another idiot proclaimed, grinning as spat the word Plegian as if it were poisonous, looking about him to see nods of agreement with his fellow councilmen (and women).

A sudden noise akin to a bear punching a tree echoed across the room. The wooden armrest of the throne, where his hand was, had snapped, splintering into pieces in his hand. "Listen up, you…" The crown prince began, his voice dangerously unstable, shaking with fury. Emmeryn may have been diplomatic and tolerant towards these buffoons, but Chrom was having none of it. Maribelle, to save the sovereign's diplomatic face, cut him off quickly. She'll gladly pay for intruding later. For now, she stood hastily, whacked her parasol on the table in front of her, and like that, all the eyes in the room were on her fair face.

"My dear council, I myself had my doubts about that Plegian woman…"

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><p>She could hear them.<p>

The heavy iron doors to the throne room promised secrecy, but with some gold and a tome from a very inventive merchant, the curious tactician could hear it all. Robin knew what they were talking about days before. Chrom could never really hide anything from her, but he was adamant not to let her come. Heck, she even begged Chrom to let her come, even if it was to at least to defend herself, but he never relented. When she heard the hurtful words they had said, she regretted having spent her modest nest egg on the eavesdropping tome.

Her heart clenched as she tried to stop the tears from falling from her grey eyes. It hurt not because of the fact that they were being idiotic bastards who should have been fed to Risen, but it hurt because they were hitting the nails right on their ugly heads. She had the same insecurities about the relationship. She may be a master tactician, and Chrom may not see her as a lady, but her heart was still that of a young girl, and words hurt.

For one, she had always felt so bare compared to the other women. When they passed through Ylisstol so long ago, before this war began, she saw maidens of fair face and figure, eyeing her handsome commander who paid them no attention. They were pale as morning sunshine, cheeks sun kissed apples of loveliness, eyes fluid and prismatic. They were pretty as birds, and frankly, with her dust coloured hair, her cloudy eyes, and her deathly complexion, she was no match.

Shepherd women were even more beautiful. Personality-wise, she was beat too. Sumia was kind as the sun was warm, radiating happiness to those around her. Her smile could inspire a nation, and her clumsy yet graceful ways would have charmed Ylisse into loving her. Plus, she was noble-born, a beautiful addition to the exalt line. Their children would have been so beautiful. They would have inherited Chrom's strength and the Pegasus knight's heart.

Maribelle would have offered a firm, guiding hand in Chrom's reign. She is the picture of royalty, with her beautiful blond curls and her queen-like personality. She was ardent about the matters of state and the equality of the nobles and the commoners. She would have brought about an era of peace that Emmeryn would have been proud of. Sully would have been a passionate queen with a heart for adventure. Cordelia, the perfect heroine for every king's story. Olivia, a graceful beauty, accentuated by every elegant sway to song. They all have the makings of a great queen, and even better wife for her best friend.

Robin? She was smart, sure. She wore dark clothes, and killed the Exalt _who trusted her_. She preferred books over people at times, and was rude to royalty, even after she knew of their pedigree.

So why her? She wasn't even half the woman his other options were. Not a quarter of the woman he deserved and not a sliver of the person Chrom was.

Tears stinging her eyes, she turned the corner and returned to the room she slept in. It wasn't her room, not really. It was large, with an even larger bed than she had ever seen, with pretty walls and ornate fixtures—another thing that contrasts and displays how dreadfully boorish and boring she was. She discarded the light cloak that the chambermaids had given her and laid it down on the bed, smoothening out the wrinkles on the fabric, careful not to spill the well of tears that seem to spring endlessly from her eyes. Her old robes felt comforting around her shoulders and she pulled the cowl over her head, revelling in the darkness that the large hood offered her. She pulled on one of the drawers in the gilded study in the corner of the room and pulled out the stationary set. Hastily, and with tears pouring harder down, she scribbled Chrom's name on paper, the penmanship shaky with grief. She removed the ring that her beloved gave her and after flipping the page, she gently placed the simple silver ring, set with tiny diamonds, in the middle and folded it inside. She left it on top of the book on war tactics she bought in Ylisstol the day before and next to the eavesdropping tome.

Looking back once into the empty room, she closed the door to the life she had always dreamt of having.


	2. Beautiful Soul

_Updates are scheduled strictly on the basis of whenever-I-feel-like. Since most of the story is done anyway, that means multiple chapters sometime this week. Big thanks to you all for reading._

_Heartfelt thanks to the reviewers, whose encouragements brought about the quick update of this chapter. This chapter is dedicated to you._

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><p><em><strong>Something about you now<strong>_  
><em><strong>I can't quite figure out<strong>_  
><em><strong>Everything she does is beautiful<strong>_  
><em><strong>Everything she does is right<strong>_

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><p>The key word here was that she tried.<p>

After her speech praising the tactician's true values, and how she should be hailed as a hero and not condemned for being born Plegian, the entire council has all but exploded, expounding how she had been brainwashed by the woman, and how said tactician was only becoming close to her to manipulate her, and 'worm' her way into the noble bloodlines that have 'built' the Ylissean kingdom. The words 'murderess' and 'conniving little street urchin' made their way into the verbal storm that was threatening to pour down on everything. Maribelle was a **lady**, and she will not join the common thrashings of the mouth that this council seems to be so fond of. Plus, it was getting so hard to control her violent reactions to the unfounded words that sprung from their filthy mouths. As calmly as she could, while everyone around her yelled, screamed, beseeched and pointed their pudgy fingers, she curtsied to Chrom and exited the room, screaming out of frustration the moment she got out, the shrill cry dulled by the slamming of the iron doors.

The chaos inside, however, continued.

"Milord, what of Sumia? She is a lovely girl, full of grace and charming light. It would—"

"Majesty, perhaps marriage to the current reigning khan in the north would increase the economic—"

"My king, if I may be so bold, my daughter is of marriageable age and it would be—"

"Your highness, I know of this lady from Valm who knows of a charming princess in the oriental north…" They all began to jabber at the same time, their mouths so full of their egos, their minds so full of self-importance that they actually thought that Chrom CARED about their opinions. His sister respected the council. It was the same council that his father has assembled, and frankly, anything that had to do with his father, he doesn't really give a damn about. But Emmeryn kept them, and she was civil, diplomatic and courtly when dealing with them…

...

Naga's sake, who was he kidding? He was no Emmeryn.

"ENOUGH!" He roared, his fist banging on to the undamaged arm rest, his face scrunched in fury and anger. Most of them cowered silently, startled into quickly taking a seat. Other more audacious council members had the nerve to look at him admonishingly, as if his royal highness was simply a misbehaving brat.

"Emmeryn may have been tolerant of your self-serving mannerisms, but I'm having NONE of this. No, no more. I don't need judgement calls from bunch of old men who sat on their laurels while MY SISTER fell to her death." He glared at each one that dared meet his eyes. "YOU have no right to say anything about the person I love. She has the most beautiful soul. You were not there to protect me whenever my defenses fell. You were not the ones that comforted me at my time of need. You were not the one who fell in exhaustion or illness, often burning midnight oil so you could come up with a plan to keep everyone safe in battle.

"You don't know Robin like I do. She is kindness and laughter embodied and I intend on wedding her."

Commotion slowly began again, and Frederick, who was furiously grasping on his last shred of civility, was about to order to court to be silent or be charged with undermining the new king's authority, but Chrom beat him to it.

"Shut up! You are all useless! From now on, this council is abolished! I don't know if Emmeryn kept this intact for nostalgic purposes, or simply because she was benevolent, and didn't want you cravens out of a job, but I am king now, and Robin my queen. The words you spoke at this assembly could have damned you well with treason, but if you leave now, and never show your face again, I'll only strip you all of nobility. For you all have no right to be called 'noble'."

"But milord, every ruling body needs—"

"I will assemble my **_own_** council, one that I trust to have the knowledge and the wisdom to _properly _guide me. Now, I suggest you leave, quickly and quietly. The next person to utter a word will become my next sparring dummy." Chrom announced firmly, becoming more adept in hiding the rage burning within him now that he has regained control of the situation. His stare bore holes at the back of the council's heads and he watched intently, not averting his gaze from the entrance until all of them left, escorted by guards to the main foyer and into their respective carriages.

After the last of them vanished, Chrom felt all the wound up tension in him give out, and he collapsed into the damaged throne, sighing. He looked over to his companion, who looked at him with unreadable eyes.

"My apologies, Frederick… I know it wasn't so diplomatic of me to lash out in anger, but those damned idiots…! They think they know so much!" Chrom sighed once again, head in his hands, nursing the guilt that loomed in his head. Frederick shook his head.

"Milord, you were of true royalty tonight, in stature and in soul. You defended Lady Robin's dignity well and to be frank, milord, they simply care too much about birthright because the heritage that their ancestors left is all they have. You have a prosperous kingdom and a noble wife to care for you. You have everything they could only dream of." Frederick smiled and assured his lord, who smiled back at him gratefully. Chrom may mention his thanks rarely, but Frederick knew a smile of gratitude when he saw it.

"Right, well, my liege, I bid you good day. I'll make sure that the rest of the day is clear for you." The knight said, earning another nod of thanks from his king. "After all, milady will need to start bearing heirs fairly soon. You'd best get started on that, milord."

With cheerful spring in his step, Frederick left his charge alone as he babbled incoherently on the throne that held the most esteemed of kings, blushing like a child.

...

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><p><em>I can find at least 3 instances in the game where Fem!AvatarRobby is either too tired to function and just falls asleep, or becomes ill because of stress: Lissa's C support, Tharja's A and Noire's A, and yet she still has time to cook, interact and do all those other things. I feel so Severa about this._


	3. Restless Time

_To celebrate the finish of my measurement report, exam week, and my consultancy project, here is chapter 3. Thanks again to all the readers and reviewers, anonymous or otherwise. You all make me happy with your notes of praise. Thanks a lot._

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><p><em><strong> Time, think you I restless or a fool?<strong>_  
><em><strong>How can you be so cruel?<strong>_

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><p>After he got over his sputtering fit, he all but ran to his beloved's room. After such a stressful day in office, he really wanted some affection from his lovely bride, the one that was always so soft to touch and smelled like soap.<p>

The bathing incidents still hadn't taught either of them to knock, and Chrom, forgetting all fourteen lectures on 'addressing women of marriageable interest' the moment they were over, entered her room in a gleeful storm. He looked around, calling out her name.

"Robin, you in here?" He called out, looking around the empty room. A small hint of worry wormed itself into his heart the moment he saw the room. Remembering Robin's tent during their campaign, she was definitely the messiest person he knew; even messier than Lissa. There were books and map scrolls everywhere: stacked on the floor, on a chair, strewn across the table, in crates, on her bed. Food wrappers and plates also stacked neatly in a corner, her laundry in another. It took the combined forces of Cordelia and Frederick to clear out that tent after the war.

The room was immaculate. No books, no random pieces of paper flung everywhere. _No signs of Robin,_ he thought as he exited the room. _Perhaps she's in the library_. He remembered the first day they came back, she was thrilled to bits when she saw the royal library. Aisles and rows of fiction, shelves and sections of non-fiction; it was any bibliophile's dream. He remembered how she glowed in excitement then; radiant in her own kind of light.

Smiling at the thought of his lady love, he pushed the heavy doors of the library, making a bee-line for the fiction section, since Robin had told him that she was looking forward to reading classical literature the most, quietly sneaking about so that when he saw the lady, he would startle her, and she would smack him and pout adorably.

Like she always did back then.

After a few minutes of walking around the fiction section, it was clear that she wasn't there.

Perhaps the natural sciences area?

Empty as well.

"Robin? You there?" He called out, his voice echoing across the threshold, his question unanswered.

_Perhaps the garden then?_His heart began to race. For some unknown reason, he was afraid. Something in him was sincerely wishing that she was in the garden. The words of one of the nobles in the council suddenly flashed through his brain, making him break into a run to the gardens.

_"She could face countless assassins from the fanatical commoners and nobles who may harbor ill will towards her roots."_

What if an assassin came for her? Surely she could handle it…but to his knowledge, she didn't keep many weapons in her room, just a Nosferatu tome that she couldn't even use. She always had her Levin Sword with her, didn't she?

He burst into the garden, hastily clanging the metal gates open, garnering the attentions of three ladies. Empty, save for Sumia, Maribelle and Lissa, who sat under a maple tree having tea. Sumia and the blonde duchess stood, concerned at Chrom's evident distress.

"Ah, big brother!" Lissa ran towards her brother, her boots clomping in the wet ground. "I heard from Maribelle that the council was being pig-headed about your engagement and—"

"Lissa, is Robin here?" Chrom gasped out, searching his sister's teal eyes for the answer.

"No, Chrom…I haven't seen her yet this morning…" Lissa shook her head. "Why? What's up?"

"Captain, she's probably somewhere in the castle, exploring. You know how she gets. She only sits still when she's reading." Sumia smiled darlingly, her eyes crinkling in gentle happiness at the thought of her trouble-making friend.

"You look worried, milord. Might I inquire why?" Maribelle could not get over the harrowing look on the king's face.

"I'm worried for Robin's safety. You heard those nobles. They're so hostile towards her! And she goes missing right after, what if something bad happened to her?"

"Well, have you checked her room?" Lissa offered, an uncertain smile on her face. Chrom nodded fervently.

"Yes, it was the first place I looked! Gods…"

The ladies offered to help him search. They searched the castle, splitting up to cover more ground, and recruiting anyone they met on their way to help search. They found no signs of Robin anywhere in the castle grounds. Chrom's heart ached dully. Wondering where she was, his feet unconsciously led him back into Robin's room, perhaps in the slight hope that she may have returned to the room.

No one. It was empty, as he left it a few hours ago.

Dejected, he slumped onto Robin's bed. He closed his eyes for a bit, until he felt his hand rest on something silky. He swiftly sat up and examined the cloth, only to realise that it was the same cloak that Robin was wearing earlier that morning during breakfast. His eyes furiously scanned the room for her things. Surely, she couldn't…

On the table, next to the large window overviewing the garden, was her war book and an unknown hardcover. He did not notice Maribelle, Lissa and Sumia come in until Lissa gasped beside him.

"Ahh! That's the Eavesdropping Tome that Anna was trying to sell to me earlier! She said someone commissioned her to make one and since she thought that it would sell well, she ended up making five more! Err, don't ask me why I need an Eavesdropping Tome. I wasn't going to eavesdrop on brother's and Robin's wedding night…" Lissa muttered silently, earning gaping mouths and groans of irritation from her companions.

"Freddie thinks you're too afraid to do it, so I kinda bet against him." She shrugged. "Be thankful your little sister still believes in her brother!"

"Lissa darling...that is...er... not ladylike. Really, eavesdropping on people? Especially doing...that? Though, the better question is why Robin would need one of those tomes…" Maribelle pondered, her hands on her chin, parasol resting against the table.

"She was listening in on the meeting earlier." Chrom whispered, pain lacing his voice. Maribelle straightened in shock.

"No..! She couldn't…those words were so..! Chrom! What if…she had run away because she found herself inadequate?"

"She is a hero! How could she not be more than enough for Ylisse and its people? Plegian or not—"

"Not like that, your grace! I meant as a woman! She may be your tactician of war, but she is also a woman, with a heart almost as gentle as dear Lissa's! She must have thought herself inadequate for you, milord. You know how she is, always so hard on herself and never thinking of her own virtues."

He shook his head. She couldn't have left him. She couldn't… She loved him too, right? She reciprocated his affections, right? Chrom refused to believe it.

Maribelle was the first to notice the tiny parcel of paper next to the questionable tome. Quickly calling Chrom's attention to it, she watched in trepidation as the royal carefully unfolded it, gasping in horror when he finally got to the centre where a tiny ring bearing the Ylissean crest lay cold. The blonde noble lady looked at her sovereign with cautious eyes, trying to gauge his reaction. She saw immense hurt in his cerulean eyes, darkened by confusion and a pinch of anger. Gingerly, he picked up the delicate ring, fingers trembling, as if confirming that this wasn't a dream and that the ring was there, and consequently, Robin was truly gone.

Sumia felt her eyes burn in sadness. She felt so sorry for her lord, especially when she saw how sad he was that Robin left. She felt so sorry for Robin, for she was all too familiar with the demons that must have plagued her good friend for her to leave the love of her life. The Pegasus knight also loved Chrom. True, she was once jealous of the Robin's ability to seamlessly interact with the lord, needing nothing more than her charming wit and smile to bewitch the future king, but Sumia found it so hard to stay jealous, for Robin was also a very good friend. And when she was sealed in a cage of depression over her unrequited love, Gaius came into her life and unlocked all the shackles that bound her down. He freed her and made her immeasurably happy with his love, and the understanding that someone else was being hurt by the love that saved her brought bitter tears to her eyes.

She wept for Chrom, whose eyes stayed dry but the emotions that rumbled through them were turbulent, threatening to spill over. She wept for Robin, who succumbed to the demons inside her. She wept for them, even if they refuse to cry for themselves.

"Chrom, I…" Lissa approached her brother, arms open to embrace him only to be pushed away when the lord suddenly stood up and ran out of the room. Maribelle, quickly comprehending what the brash king is to do, gathered her skirts and ran out of the room to follow him, dragging Lissa behind her in tow. Sumia tried to follow, but the tears in her eyes made her much clumsier than usual.

"Frederick! Frederiiiiick!" Maribelle screeched for her husband, her voice echoing through the stone halls of the castle, startling ghosts and chambermaids alike with the urgency in her cry. The knight quickly announced his appearance by jogging next to her, his armour clanking, falling in rhythm to his steps, about to reprimand his wife for performing such strenuous activities under the strain of pregnancy, but the desperation in her voice made him bite his tongue. Quickly, she pointed to Chrom who was already too far away from the two ladies and quickly nodding, he sprinted off. Maribelle slowed down to a trot, unable to hide a small satisfied smile that grew on her face as her darling husband quickly reached the king and brusquely tackled him to the ground. The ring the king was holding fell to the ground, tinkling quietly as it rolled to a stop before Chrom. Frederick looked at the band and frowned in confusion.

"Milord…"

"Frederick! Let me go! I need to go! She's out there, alone! And you remember what those bastard nobles said!" Chrom thrashed under the knight's grip, trying desperately to get loose, or at least reach over to keep the precious jewellery. Frederick leaned over and gave the ring to the lord to pacify him, squeezing Chrom's hand in emotional sympathy.

"My apologies for tackling you down like this, but it would seem that an explanation is necessary."

"Frederick, I've no time for explanations! I **need** to go! Robin needs me!" Chrom whispered brokenly, gazing at the floor, eyes boring into the concrete, threatening to destroy everything in their sight; Frederick included. Anger was easier for him to handle than sadness, since anger gave him the necessary energy to run off and drag Robin back into his arms.

"What has happened, milord..?" Frederick asked, voice hardening, eyes narrowed. This was the knight's business mode.

"Robin is gone! She's run off to gods-know where!" Lissa supplied to the knight, whose eyes widened in shock. He then looked at the lord beneath him, and he grimly frowned.

"We need to retreive her as soon as possible. A royal without protection is as vulnerable as a plate of turkey dinner to the starved."

"Which is what I'm trying to do! Now get off of me, Frederick!" Chrom all but screamed.

"Your majesty, you seriously aren't thinking of flying off to chase after Robin alone, right? You're king now, for Naga's sake! You have your people to think of!" Maribelle finally managed to catch up, her forehead knitted in an angry knot, eyes that of a mother scolding her child, a look that would have made Frederick swoon with joy were the situation proper.

""You heard those councilmen. The entire country may be in an uproar because of Robin's background, and Plegia just lost its king to her tactics. Frederick, Robin has no friends out there. Every moment I waste here is another moment that bandits or assassins could try and take her away from me! I need to leave right now!"

"At the very least, let us come with you!" Sumia caught up, her entrance punctuated by the sound of her tripping over the floor. Lightning quick, Frederick caught her, but at the cost of letting the lord go. Said lord thus scrambled to his feet and began to run again, fist tight around the delicate ring.

"Oh no you don't!" Lissa exclaimed, about to burst into a run but was beaten to catching her brother by a surprisingly lithe Sumia, who flew to him, tears coming to her eyes again and embraced the king, startling him into stopping again.

"Please, captain…" Sumia sobbed into Chrom's back, tears landing softly on his shirt, tears warm against the chills that run up his back. "Don't go alone…Robin would be so broken i-if…"

"Broken?! Gods, Sumia, She's the one that left me!" Chrom pried her arms around him and faced her. "How could she leave without saying a word? Did she not love me?" He screamed at Sumia, the tears that had been hiding behind his anger, finally fell from his eyes.

"T-that's not it at all!" Sumia cried, voice far from the meek whisper that she was known for. "She loves you! Naga may only know the depths of her affection for you. She did all of this for you! She let you go because she loved you!" She screamed back, eyes soggy with tears, but her voice was more powerful than any of them remember.

"How is this love? How is breaking my heart loving me?!" He clenched his fists to prevent him from breaking anything—Sumia included. In this storm of emotion, the gods only know how much destruction he could cause. Physically, he would never hurt Sumia, but verbally, he could leave scars to last centuries. Words hurt. He knew that. He had to watch his sister Emmeryn suffer the consequences of their father's actions. She never knew, but he heard her cry at night sometimes when they were still small. He wanted so bad for the people hurting her to hurt too, just as his sister was hurting. She, however, always smiled and never faltered in her peaceful crusade for peace. Words can break a person, that much he knew, but he always thought Robin stronger than that. He always thought her as strong as his sister, infallible even when she was hurting inside. His sister never wavered in her beliefs, and in the rush of battle, Robin didn't either. That faithful determination was what made him fall for her in the first place. She never gave up, regardless of how the odds were stacked up against them. She held fast and trusted in the strength of the people around her for the peace they so long sought after. He loved her for her strength, which is why it confounded him to no end why she would leave if she really did love him.

Chrom's head was cloudy. He felt ready to collapse from shock at any moment. So many questions and concerns floated around in his head. None of them had answers, or if they did, they only made him feel worse. The day's events replayed themselves over and over to him. The young king snapped out of his doldrums when he heard a horse whinny. No longer were they in the castle, but in the stables, and he watched confused as Maribelle, Lissa and Frederick saddled up their steeds in preparation for the task they were about to embark on. Sumia was still crying, but was carefully preparing her Pegasus for flight. She slung her saddle across the beautiful beast's back, and gave its mane a pet, soothing the animal with the gentle stroke of her hand. Chrom frowned.

"At what point did the three of you manage to weasel your way into this?" Chrom asked half-heartedly. Part of him still wanted to leave on his own, but it was a small relief seeing others who cared so much about Robin.

"You zoned out, we took advantage. Come on, Chrom, keep up with us." Lissa stuck out her tongue, admonishing her brother.

"Milord, we're wasting daylight. We are coming with you, so please let that petty argument die." Maribelle said smoothly as she mounted her white mare. Frederick looked up at her in quiet objection, and she met his stare with her own.

"Maribelle, my dear, I really would feel better if you stayed here in the castle with milady." Frederick said, brows furrowed with concern for his wife and the unborn bundle that was growing within her. His overprotectiveness with Chrom and his sisters paled in the care he lavished on his wife, doubling only in intensity when the noblesse became pregnant.

"Frederick…" Maribelle sighed, quickly dismounting her horse. She approached her husband with a gloved hand over her flat stomach and a small appreciative smile on her lips. "I…know that you are a very devoted person, and that caring is part of who you are, but I need to go. Robin is a good friend, and I…I vowed to protect her at all cost." The lady whispered, her face lowered as tears began to prick at the sides of her eyes.

Frederick could only pull her into his arms and hold her fiercely, willing all the gods to lend him strength to soothe her pain. He hated it when she cried, and the beautiful sadness that always accompanied her tears made his heart wrench tightly in his chest. She was the most precious when she cried, because in the year they have spent together as husband and wife, and even longer as friends and comrades, she had never cried about anything petty. She had always cried for someone else's sake. He wanted to give in to her, understanding how dear Robin was to the lady, however, the prospect of anyone he loved being put into dangerous situations left him at a crossroads.

"Ah, Frederick, let her come! She'll be alright! You'll protect her, and so will I!" Lissa softly nudged him on the shoulder with her staff, smiling up at the knight, as if consoling him.

"I refuse to put you or Maribelle in danger." Chrom had to interject, for he could see his knight's resolve slowly whittling away. "Frederick can come, but not you ladies. I don't think I can bear your husbands' wraths were anything to happen to you."

"You obviously know nothing about the wrath of women. We are coming and that is it." Lissa's eyes hardened, a sudden shift from her earlier softness; it was almost as if she was angry.

"But Lissa you—"

"If I hear anything about being the princess and the next exalt and blah blah blah, well, newsflash dingleberry, YOU are the current exalt. You're KING now. Like Maribelle said, you have your people to think of. If anything, it's YOU who shouldn't go!"

"I have authori—"

"ALRIGHT! STOP IT!" Maribelle screeched, scaring the nearby horses and pegasi with the loudness and ferocity in her tone. "Ahem. We are not seceding back into the bickering mess that we were in an hour ago. Please, let us just go. If we continue, Robin may well have reached the end of the world."

"Maribelle, you're pregnant." Chrom dead-panned, his eyes boring into hers, eliciting a roll of her own honey eyes.

"Milord, if I may be so direct, I am pregnant, not incapacitated. I am certain I can hurl a couple of Arcfires from the safe height of my horse, with or without a child within me."

Lissa cracked a smile, while Frederick tried with difficulty to restrain the chortle that was rumbling in his throat. Even Chrom couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Fine, but remember, you're protecting six people now. You'd best be very careful."

The Valkyrie smiled serenely as she slowly rubbed her belly, smiling down at the unborn bundle of happiness, looking every bit a doting mother.

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><p><em>Maribelle's pregnancy is relevant. -flais aweh-<em>


	4. And I'll Always Love You

_Pieces' penultimate chapter! Warm thanks again to all readers, and especially to those that review. It makes me so happy to see you enjoy the story. _

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><p><strong>If I should stay,<strong>  
><strong>I would only be in your way...<strong>  
><strong>So I'll go, but I know<strong>  
><strong>I'll think of you every step of the way.<strong>

**And I will always love you.**

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><p>Robin had been wandering for hours, judging by how low the sun had dipped on the horizon. Its final rays had made their way towards her face, setting light on her pasty white skin, colouring it with the melancholic melody of sunset. She weakly raised her hand, blocking the dying light from her eyes, painfully red from the amount of tears that had fallen from them. From a distance, if she squinted, she could still see the turrets of Castle Ylisse, roof shingles twinkling silently. The ache in her heart was dulled by the exhaustion of walking. She never once stopped. She wandered aimlessly; tears falling from her face, her heart beating achingly. Her feet erupted in blisters, and yet she stumbled on, a singular desire to vanish giving her the power to put one foot in front of the other.<p>

She thought of her commander and best friend. Nothing in the world compared to the time they spent together. Maybe he hadn't even realized that she had left yet. Maybe she could turn around right now and return to him, and they could sit down for dinner like they always did. She could return home to where her beloved was and continue life where she left off, treating this as nothing more than a short little tantrum. She thought of how sweet life would be for her. He would no doubt try to court her, at least more intensely than the blubbering attempts he had tried. Each awkward gesture would be more heavy-handed and pathetic than the last, and yet each would make her swoon; make her heart beat faster than it ever could. He'd win her over; tear down the walls she had so carefully constructed. He would propose, she would undeniably accept. They'd get married. It would be the happiest moment of her life.

Then she would become queen of Ylisse.

The temporary warmth that her thoughts had filled her drained immediately at that thought. Chrom was the ruler of his country. To be romantically involved with him was to place herself at the top of Ylisse for all to see, their judging eyes condemning both herself and Chrom. She cared very little for her own reputation. Other than the overdramatic title of Grandmaster, there was nothing much to her name. Her prince though, he had big shoes to fill, expectations to fulfil. A ruler is nothing without subjects and his amours with an unknown tactician with a spotty memory and even more suspicious background would no doubt cause people not to trust him. It took his sister years upon years of pain and strife to win her people's faith. Robin would not risk that trust for anything.

She couldn't do that to her beloved prince and the memory of the beloved Emmeryn.

If it ever came out that they had been together at all... No matter how much those nights of holding, caressing; of moments—kisses—stolen behind his tent, of love muttered between gulping gasps; no matter how much those memories meant to her, Chrom meant much more. She loved him and being married to a woman of no stature, of dust eyes and strange markings would ruin him. He'd have no reputation left to try and salvage.

So she trudged on, even if her mind had long forgotten the council's words; even if her heart was begging her to turn back, she had convinced herself that her disappearance was the best thing she could do for Chrom. Years would pass and he would forget. The cobwebs of time would dull the shine their love had and in the blink of an eye, it would vanish, riding along the favourable winds of change as a bitter memory. He would fall in love with another, and slowly, as one would fall asleep, she would be dismissed as an unwanted thought, buried deep within the forgotten corners of his mind. She would fade from his life, as a shadow would in the presence of light.

The thought gave her great comfort.

The pitch darkness of night came all too soon, and it became painfully apparent that this was one of Robin's least strategically sound endeavours. Strategy wasn't her plan here though. Tonight, she just needed to disappear. Whether she survived or not was irrelevant. Her stomach scolded her for not raiding the kitchen before she departed. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to carry on for long. Perhaps a rest would do her good. She sincerely doubted that anyone - friend or enemy - would find her out here in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by grasslands and the infinity of stars. Finding a particularly comfortable spot on the ground, she admired the irony of her situation. Her life with Chrom would end as it began with her sleeping on the ground. Perhaps the lord of another country would find her here, like Chrom found her before. Perhaps this would be the last time she'd close her eyes. She smiled bitterly at the outlandish narrative she had begun painting.

She thought of her blue-haired prince as she slowly drifted into a pained sleep.

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><p>Chrom rode ahead silently, with a solemn visage plastered onto his face. The horse he rode could not possibly meet the speeds at which his heart was telling him to race. The group's preparations took them well into the evening, and they were not able to depart until well after the sun had set. Even if it meant being disadvantaged in a sudden ambush, in order to avoid incurring the crown prince's wrath, the group agreed to begin their search in the dark.<p>

At first, they had no clue where to begin, since she could be anywhere. The guards of the castle gates were no help, since none of them had even seen the tactician leave. Chrom had reasoned that Robin likely wouldn't be in any of the villages near the castle. She likely feared any human interaction after hearing those things spoken in council. With this in mind, the group headed west, towards the borders of Plegia, where settlements were few and far between. Chrom hoped that his guess was correct and that she was indeed heading west, but then another fear has settled in his stomach. Plegia is infamous for being a favourite hiding place for bandits, thieves and other dishonest men who plunder and kill travellers. The routes to the kingdom was rumoured to be littered with cutthroats and Chrom was begging Naga that she keep Robin safe, dammit. His sister was gone, and he was not going to lose another loved one again.

Chrom looked up to the skies and oriented himself with the stars, eyes scanning for Polaris and the Great Bear, inadvertently wondering if Robin was looking at the skies too. She loved the North Star. The memory of the nights spent star gazing with his star-dust-haired love made his heart constrict in anguish. He missed her. They had only been separated for a few hours and yet the longing in his soul could not be any more intense. He needed her. How he ever lived those years before her baffled him. She was why he lived. She was his light and as a man lost in the darkness of his own soul, he needed that light to see.

He needed her.

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><p>Robin awoke suddenly, jolting up from the hard ground on which she had spent a few hours sleeping. The skies were still dark, with no signs of dawn on the horizon. Her back ached, and her predicament with food and water had remained largely troubling and unsolved since she had fallen asleep. She felt tired. It has been so long since she'd drunk anything and her throat felt raw, like it had been rubbed against sandpaper. She looked around, trying to get her bearings, when she saw figures with torches, at least ten of them, heavily bundled up, even for the freezing evening gust that chilled her. The tall grass among which she made her bed had obscured her from vision before. Now she desperately wished she could stay hidden from the dubious group. All the rustling in the foliage drew one of the men's attention, despite Robin's best attempts at discretion. The man, scarred face and forearms, and myriad weapons on his body clearly giving away his occupation as a bandit, approached Robin along with the others, having found a target.<p>

"Today's your lucky day, my dear. You're gonna drop every last valuable you've got, and I'm gonna let you run on home with your life." The one who spied her among the tall grass gripped Robin by the collar of her cloak and hoisted her up to her feet. When the torchlight of one of his companions lit up her face, he was suddenly taken aback, immediately recognizing the girl. A cruel smile crossed his face. An opportunity like this only comes once in a lifetime.

"White hair, pale skin, and a dark cloak... You can only be the tactician that led the Ylissean army through Plegia! The one that killed my king! The one that made my life a living hell!" He angrily croaked. The war had killed his friends and had made him turn to plundering. He had been an honest man once, with a loving wife and a strapping son to match, but their village was destroyed by these Ylisseans, his son a simple uncelebrated casualty. His wife has since lost touch with reality, and he had gotten in touch with booze. The story was similar for many of the men in their group. It only got harder when their king died. No one would give them a job, since they were 'Plegian scum'. At least when Gangrel was still alive, he had a job, even if it was a mercenary job.

Now, he and the other 'scum' with him roamed the lands for food and the clinking coin of a helpless traveller. Grima must have finally listened to their prayers of retribution.

"Please, sir," Robin gasped weakly, throat dry from dehydration, having neither the strength nor the will to stand up for herself, physically or mentally. "All of that is in my past. Right now, I just need to disappear..."

"You'd so easily dismiss the amount of deaths you've caused because it's in your past? Well, I guess you're twice as lucky today!" The man snarled, the impending revenge thickened his blood, made his skin crawl in anticipation of this sweet revenge. "By Grima, you're gonna disappear! And you'll make me a Plegian hero in the process!"

"No, please! Just let me g-", her plea went unfinished as the Plegian unsheathed a dagger from his belt and plunged it deep into Robin's gut. Pain shot up through her spine. A cold, numbing sensation crept through her brain and for a moment, she felt good. Inches from her attacker's face, she could do nothing but smile a soft smile, one of peace and acceptance. Her demeanour did nothing to spoil the bandit's moment. A malevolent grin cracked across his face too. He could already see the cheering crowds coming to greet him at Plegia's border. He'd be a legend. He'd become king! He'd lay claim over every treasure in the land; every maiden...

He didn't expect the new king of Ylisse to come riding in from behind him.

* * *

><p>Chrom refused to set up camp, much to the chagrin of his loyal knight. The prince could see how tired the horses and their riders were, but he was too aggravated, too tormented for sleep. He ordered the rest of them to settle and sleep for the night, something that the ladies were secretly glad for, but were incensed when Chrom kept riding further.<p>

"Does he expect us to go sleep while he combed the rest of the world alone?" Maribelle sighed as she finally got off of her mount, her back aching fiercely. She fell flush against her husband, who held her tight to his chest, rubbing her shoulders to soothe her.

"You should probably get some rest, dear. If you're worried about milord's safety, rest assured I will protect him."

A fluttering of wings fanned their face and Sumia disembarked from the skies, her snow-white Pegasus neighing noisily as she landed. She did not dismount however, rather she looked Frederick in the eyes.

"Commander!" She saluted Frederick who noticed her sudden seriousness. "I've spotted torches less than half a league away! They may be—"

"Brigands. Milord needs assistance. Come, Sumia!" The knight gently extracted himself from his wife, smiling carefully as she pouted up to him. Frederick proceeded to quickly mount his horse, only for his wife to also mount hers.

"Maribelle, I really would like it if you rested. I mean it." The knight said to her, only for the lady to scoff at his words.

"Mm, let's leave a beautiful lady alone in an area that immoral filths haunt frequently. I'd either be raped, killed or have my organs plundered. Clearly it is not I who needs sleep, and if you deny it and insist on me making a bed on sticks and stones, then it is evident that I am obviously the one of sounder mind. _You_ should sleep." Maribelle smirked as her husband gaped at the word 'raped'. It is not a common word for a lady's vocabulary, but Robin's been teaching her…

"Mari is right, you know! It's better we stick together." Lissa reigned in her horse, mounting it as well, her throwing axe in hand, her mending staff in another.

Sighing, Frederick gave in, and the rag-tag search party followed Sumia's white Pegasus towards the bright lights she saw. Soon enough, they were able to catch up to their lord, who noticed them and placed a finger on his lips, indicating for them to be quiet. He looked back to where he was looking and a scene unfolded before them. There were people, at least seven of them, and they were simply walking, their rambunctious laughter and chatter echoing around them. Chrom's eyes widened when they suddenly stopped and laughed more gleefully. Maribelle and Lissa readied their weapons, preparing to attack. At the same time, Sumia dropped from the skies, her eyes in wild panic. Chrom looked at her worriedly.

"It's her, captain! It's her! She's in the tall grasses over there!" Sumia pointed towards the brigands, and in the split second Chrom's eyes had left the scene, the shifty group of men had hauled a person, with all too familiar hair and too familiar a cloak, up from the grass, clutching her by the front of her cloak. The brigands were too far away for them to hear anything, yet the message was conveyed when, eyes widened in anger, Chrom watched a knife bury itself into Robin's stomach, clutched in the hands of a pot-bellied murderer. He heard gasps behind him, harmonizing with the loud beating of his heart. Shaking with fury, he drew Falchion from its scabbard and charged.

"Bolganone!" He heard Maribelle scream behind him, and the gallop of Lissa's horse punctuated each step he took. The brigands turned from the wounded girl and grinned at the prince and his companions.

"Heh! The Ylissean tactician AND its crown prince?! At this rate, we'll become saints in Plegia!" The man who had stabbed Robin laughed as he unsheathed his axe, gleaming silver and probably stolen from another traveller.

Chrom spared no time. He ran a sword through anyone who dared oppose him, with a speed and brutality that was so foreign to him. Beside him, magic electrified the air as Maribelle slung spell after spell at the brigands, their bodies dropping heavily on the ground, useless against the arcane arts. Those that managed to evade the blasts of energy met their end at the point of Lissa's axe and Sumia's spear. The two were relentless, hurling cold steel at the brigands mercilessly. The Shepherds may have been outnumbered, but the brigands were definitely outclassed. Frederick rode to Robin while his allies fought the quickly dwindling number of enemies, gravely assessing the lady's injuries. A small pool of blood shone in the moonlight, and the girl's grey eyes were becoming glassier by the minute. He screamed for his wife, startling her from the massacre, for Frederick had never screamed before. Maribelle rode away from battle and towards the fallen lady, the anger from earlier having clouded her judgement. She should have taken care of Robin first! Lissa followed suit as Sumia and Chrom took care of the last couple brigands.

"Robin, stay strong!" Maribelle said nervously as her fingers encircled the rudimentary handle of the blade. In a swift movement, she pulled the blade out, eliciting a screech of pain from her friend. Blood gushed out of the wound and the noble lady began to recite a well-memorised spell to heal the fallen tactician. Lissa joined her best friend in the enchantment, eyes closed in concentration. Frederick turned to aid his lord, but was startled and possibly sickened as he watched his lord confront Robin's assailant, thrusting the point of his sword through the man's neck, ending his life immediately. The enemy has been decimated; however the troubles were only beginning. Chrom pushed away Frederick, his blue eyes fearfully scanning his beloved's prone form, her eyes unfocused, lips flaked over in dryness, her breath coming in gasps.

"Robin!" The lord gasped, his bloody hands cradling her face, shaking as he noted how hauntingly pale she was in the moonlight.

"Chrom..." she muttered, her voice barely a whisper, "What are you all doing here?" Maribelle hovered over her and began tearing at her robes, exposing a short wound that seemed to endlessly spew crimson blood regardless of how much she tried to staunch it with her handkerchief. The skin was not healing since the injury was deeper than magic could heal.

"The wound is too deep! We're going to need a more intense spell!"

"Me!? What's wrong with you!?" Chrom screamed over Maribelle, his reply not one of concern. Not one of fear, or relief either. Rather, he was angry, furious even. "Why in Naga's name did you run off?!"

"I needed to leave... To remove myself from your life. Chrom... I truly meant it for your own benefit. So…please...stay away." Robin croaked, finding it difficult to speak, most of the time due to the breaths that seem so adamant in abandoning her lungs. Each breath hurt, aggravating her wound. Her eyes fluttered, the darkness threatening to devour her vision. Above her, Maribelle was screaming for the lord to stop, but Chrom continued, the hurt and anger in his eyes made her hurt too. She was the cause of those emotions that made his eyes dull in misery. No one should have to undergo that, especially because of her.

She wanted to die for the sin of marring her lord's beautiful face with pain, but by the way she felt, it could only be soon now. A small smile graced her lips, a simple gesture that made everyone around her panic madly.

"Robin, how is this to MY benefit? You did this without consulting me! You didn't take me into consideration at all! Gods... You're a smart girl, Robin! Why would you go and try to ruin the rest of my life!?" Chrom kept talking, trying to keep her on this plane of existence. Gods, the anger he felt dissipated at the sight of her smile. It was like death was bartering with her, and that small, tragically empty smile meant that she accepted.

"Chrom, we need to move her back to the castle. She's not going to make it otherwise! Sumia has left her pegasus. Take it and fly to the castle as quickly as you can without aggravating her wound. Sumia took your horse and has already ridden up ahead to alert Miriel and Libra of the situation. If we ride straight, we'll reach the castle before daybreak!" Lissa urged her brother to pick up the tactician and hurry to the white feathered Pegasus.

Chrom gingerly cradled his love in his arms, gasping in surprise as he saw how much blood had soaked the ground below her."Chrom..." She smiled up at him again, her glassy eyes filling with tears. She snuggled closer to his heart. Just hearing the organ soothed her better than anything she knew. It gave her the necessary strength to let him go. "I know it will hurt... But you'll recover. You'll be a stronger king because of this... You'll find someone truly deserving of your love and strength... And you will forget me."

Chrom flinched, the large strides he was taking towards his horse halted, Robin's words momentarily making the prince stop in his tracks. "How do I even begin to forget you?! You can't seriously think I'll forget about you! You can't think I'll move on from you! Please, don't leave me…" He began to run to his horse, jostling his precious passenger as he mounted the beast.

Briefly, she looked into his eyes and shocked him with the contented bittersweet happiness that shone through her tears. "Yes... I know you will. You won't remember me, but you'll be thankful... You've made me happy, Chrom. I'll be forever grateful for the time we had..." She sighed and then closed her eyes. Chrom's heart stopped beating for a second.

"Robin, no! Open your eyes, dammit! OPEN YOUR EYES!"

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><p><em>Right, Chapter 5 has a lovely little surprise waiting for you all. It involves our favourite star-dust-haired heroine, and whoever guesses the surprise will earn a one-shot written to their requests! The only hint I can leave lies in the chapter before this one. Toodle doo~!<em>


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